As we, the “earth people” living on this planet, enter into the 21st century, there have been profound changes in world affairs that severely impact the well-being of our lives. One can list a number of such events that led to those changes. But among them three really stand out and they should be given the appropriate recognition and elucidation for their immense effects. The first event has to be the end of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States. The end of the cold war has directly led to the breaking up of the Soviet Union and the creation of several independent smaller republics within the former Soviet Empire. Furthermore, the end of the cold war has also completely lifted the strong iron clasp rule by the former Communist power over the so-called “Eastern Bloc” countries in Europe. Such an event has changed many lives, both within and without the former Soviet Union. Many people formerly living under the Soviet rule are today enjoying their political freedom for the first time after many decades. More importantly they have now become productive and free citizens once again in their new environments leading to significant economical gain because of their entrepreneurship and hard work. Thus, there has been a true breath of fresh air and new hope injected into many people living around the world prior to entering into the 21st century.
The second event has to be the birth of the so-called Internet or online communication services starting as early as in the late 1970s even though it took more than two decades (including the notorious “World Wide Wait” period instead of “WWW or World Wide Web” for its ridiculously slow services in the beginning) and a gigantic bubble burst in the capital investment community towards the end of the last century to prove to everybody that it is indeed one of the most important events that has taken place. Needless to say, the advent of the Internet together with the tremendous advances in the silicon chip and the computer software technologies during the past two decades have literally ushered the world into the so-called Information Age. Today so many things are done via the Internet including the buying and selling of goods and services, production planning, raw material sourcing, manufacturing, marketing and sales, quality assurance, customer relations etc., that productivity gain in many industry sectors has never been so high and vibrant. It is primarily a direct result of the dawning of this Information Age discussed above that has led to the third event worth reckoning and elucidating below.
The third event can broadly be described as the globalization of trade, commerce, finance, communication and production of goods and services among literally all the civilized countries of the world including those that are developed, developing or even under-developed. In the layman sense, globalization simply means that all activities involving international commerce, trade, finance, communication and production of goods and services will take place irrespective of continental, national or geographical boundaries as long as they are done in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. The direct consequence of globalization is that goods and services are much cheaper across the board than they were before because of the immense increase in productivity. In other words, countries that possess plenty of cheap labor will automatically be given the opportunity to produce goods or to perform services that are needed worldwide. This globalization-induced gain in overall productivity has led to a significance rise in the standard of living for almost all countries during the past decade, especially those in the third world. However, globalization is by no means a pure blessing, but is actually a two-edged sword. Whereas some countries like China and India have been benefited tremendously by the effects of globalization, other countries like the US, European Union countries and even Japan have suffered significant negative effects like the loss of employment and the closing down of many factories that are no longer needed within their countries. Globalization is presently an on-going process and nobody really knows for sure exactly to where it will eventually lead the world. One thing however is amply clear, at least for the foreseeable future, and that is the strong rise in the economical fortune for China, a phenomenon that has never happened before until recently.
During the past decade or so, as more and more affluent Chinese and Asian gamblers (as a direct result of the phenomenon of globalization discussed above) have come to Las Vegas and Atlantic City to play, there has been a growing sense of opportunity for the casinos to come up with new games in order to attract the attention of these new customers. If these new games can be devised based upon the cultural folklores and ancient concepts that the Chinese and Asians revere, the chance of these new games being enthusiastically accepted by the new corners will be greatly enhanced. Furthermore, if these new games can blend the old and popular Chinese gambling games such as Mahjongg, Tin Gau, Sic Bo and Fan Tan (the so-called “Big Four”), with traditional Western style gambling games such as slot machines, card games, craps and roulette, the so-called gaming fusion of the East and West, then the chance of success should even be greater, especially if such games also still appeal to traditional Western gaming patrons.
While one might think that the creation of new games for casinos in the U.S., based upon the fusion of the culture and gambling methods of both the East and West, should be a natural course of action for casino operators in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, this has not been the case, and it appears that a lot of opportunity is still being left on the table. The reason for this kind of thinking is as follows. First of all, China is a big country with a population approaching 1.4 billion. Assuming the fact that the economical fortune of China will continue to rise during the next one or two decades, then the number of affluent Chinese visitors coming to the US in the future can easily be in the tens of millions. Ordinarily speaking, because of the immense size of the US and the large number of tourist attractions scattered all around the country, there is no particular reason to believe that the traveling itineraries for most Chinese visitors should include either Las Vegas or Atlantic City as intermediary stops. However, it is a well known fact that Chinese people have loved to play games of chance for centuries, or to put it plainly, they love to gamble. Gambling is literally in their blood, so to say, just like many Irish people love visiting their neighborhood bar for a drink of beer right after work and before heading home. As visitors to the US, therefore, a prime destination for affluent Chinese travelers will no doubt be Las Vegas or Atlantic City, in addition to some other well known sightseeing places in the U.S.
From the above arguments, namely, that the Chinese people are true avid gamblers at heart and that the rising economical fortune of the East, primarily referring to China, will eventually catch up with the West (primarily the US), a never-before-seen opportunity and a rare but realistic scenario in the gaming arena will be unfolding right in front of our eyes. This kind of opportunity is not a pie in the sky. Rather, it is real and it is coming. In order to take full advantage of this enormous financial windfall that should be shortly put in front of the US gaming industry, including casinos operated by the Indian tribes across the country, in addition to those operating in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, only a genuine East-West casino concept will be able to take full advantage of this financial windfall. By an East-West casino we mean a special gaming establishment designed and operated with the idea of fusing gambling methods between the East and the West while also taking into consideration the cultural folklores of Chinese people. Such a casino will appeal strongly not only to the flock of Chinese visitors coming to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but also to the locals and ordinary American tourists paying their annual homage to the US gaming Mecca. But even to the new Chinese gaming city of Macao, the former Portuguese Colony at the Pearl river delta in China, such an East-West casino concept should equally be popular, not only for the massive Chinese gamblers coming across to Macao from China, but also for millions of foreign travelers coming annually to visit Hong Kong and China as well.
In current luxurious Western resort casino hotels based upon different theme concepts (such as the Venetian which uses the city of Venice as the backdrop or Paris, Paris which uses the famous French city etc.) only the hotel ground layout (both the interior and the exterior), the internal and external decors, restaurants, shopping arcades, concession amenities etc. reflect the resort hotel theme. As far as the gambling games are concerned, they are all practically the same with the same old Western style standbys in resonance with the resort hotel theme. However, while the presently invented East-West casino can certainly include emphasis on hotel amenities, and include themes based upon great cities in the East, its primary focus is upon new and unique casino games that are designed to blend the culture and gaming methods of the East with those of the West and cannot be found elsewhere. Thus, the concept of the currently invented East-West casino is truly innovative and unique and has never been advanced until now, even though the gaming industry has been spending tens of billions of dollars in developing new casinos, and the cost of high-end, world-class casinos today can easily exceed a billion dollars per casino.